Halliburton Tries To Patent Form Of Patent Trolling

from the fascinating dept

We see all sorts of ridiculous patent applications and patents, but my favorites tend to be the patents that have to do with patents themselves (such as the patent app on a method for filing a patent). However, the folks over at Patently-O have highlighted a fascinating patent application from an attorney at Halliburton, which appears to be an attempt to patent the process of patent trolling. The application covers, quite explicitly, having a company (we'll say Company A) that does not invent something, find a company (Company B) that did invent something, but chose to use trade secret protection, rather than patents. Then, the Company A files a patent covering Company B's technology, and then use the issued patent to get money out of Company B.

Now, one could hope that Halliburton's intention in patenting such a process was to use it to stop other companies from doing this, but it does make you wonder. Of course, especially after the Bilski ruling, this patent is most likely dead in the water, but these days, you never know.

Re: 1st Order of business for Obama

Other Pending Patents from Halliburton

-> Cost plus government contract scheme
-> Recruitment techniques used to recruit truck drivers for supply line across an unsecured war zone.
-> The method of placing a puppet in the white house/pentagon.

Re: Other Pending Patents from Halliburton

I do not mean for my reply to be taken for anything other than, what it is. An opinion.

In regards to patenting "The method of placing a puppet in the White House / Pentagon" .
There will be no need.
The people of Islam, beat them to it.
Since they will be pulling the strings in the VERY near future, the whole patent process might be a moot point.

I don't know about you, but I'm not sure if they will uphold ANY patents, or ideas, not dealing directly with their views.
Some might say that I am over reacting, but I feel that a lot of weird things are about to take place. And guess who will be caught in the middle, you got it , us !

Elizabeth Dole

Elizabeth Dole got her ass kick here in NC by going lying, ugly, dirty, especially about her opponents' religion. GOOD that hes did the repubs have on ability to understand the issues! They just seem to think that all voters are as dumb as they them selves are!

Re: Unemployed losers on this site: Patents are here to stay!

RE: Unemployed losers...

Patents as they were intended by the constitution are fine, to protect the inventions of inventors. But patent trolls and patents that violate prior works, are over generalized, or are obvious do not follow the intent. In order to retain the integrity of patents there needs to be some patent reform. I hope that your patents don't succumb to these, in which case I applaud your accomplishments.

Re: Unemployed losers on this site: Patents are here to stay!

I'm a wealthy black male, under thirty years of age, with a portfolio near $35 million. That's after the market woes, btw. One hundred percent of my wealth came from the software and technology sectors and, while I have written much and invented a few things in my short professional life, I own not one single patent. I innovate, you litigate. You win? I win bigger!

Why does this come as a surprise?

Cheney, the ex-CEO of Haliburton has been a large proponent of neoconservative ideology. The neoconservative ideology believes heavily in the process of "intervention".

In reviewing the patent, it seems to rely heavily on intervention between companies. Could this be a repositioning of a political philosophy of intervention into something that could possibly relate to a business model?

Please don't feed the troll!

Patently obvious that this guy is in his early to mid 20's, high school education with a little community college, works a dead end job, lives with his parents and vents the anger of his failures by posting ignorant baloney on websites which are above his intellectual capacity to understand.

Nice

Yes!

The patent system, provided to protect inventions and spur innovation, creativity, and competition. Just like T. Jefferson intended.

.

.

Whats that you say? This isnt how the patent system is supposed to work? It's really being used as a bludgeon to stifle innovation, silence dissent and competitors, and lock up inventions and ANY derivative from ever being used or expanded upon by anyone else? And the Govt supports this, because they are owned by their coporate masters? Surely, this is what the founding fathers had in mind all along? Right?

Re: Re: Unemployed losers on this site: Patents are here to stay!

Agreed. Assuming this guy has 12 million(probably not) hes more than likely to be one of those guys whos only game is to tell girls how much he makes and points to his bmw(prolly has some kind of retarded rims and a system in it) and more than likely has herpes from this(all gold digging whores have herpes). Congrats to you. I wish i was as cool as you. Wait, negative, im not an arrogant loser who trolls internet blogs why scratching my genitals. If your so rich why dont you buy yourself a life.

Re: Unemployed losers on this site: Patents are here to stay!

I am not a millionaire myself...yet. I agree, this is not the way to change patent laws. Why would we? What we do want is the people administrating those patents to be well qualified to perform this service for us. That's right patents protect us little guys from the big guys. If you develop a product that proves profitable and you don't patent it...then you it is your lack of due diligence that made it easy for the bigger company to get your product. That's business, and its not always pretty. I am a young black american who works hard, and I will remember to patent my product. Like I said, patent laws are to protect people like me from the big guys. At least until I accomplish my goals, then those same laws will protect you from me. God Bless America! I love capitalism!

Re: Re: Re: Other Pending Patents from Halliburton

Does it matter if he's faking or not? The fact remains that he's been following a crazyman for 20 years. Now, ask yourself, do you want a cultist to be president? I'm not talking wiccan or anything like that, don't consider them cults. But it's not a stretch of the imagination to see his minister in the center of the next Waco. Obama is not the man you want running your country, the first should have been when all our enemies cheered for him......

Re: Re: Unemployed losers on this site: Patents are here to stay!

No, patent laws are to help people like me. People who never invent anything. People who buy things. Patents are to make sure there are new and innovative things out there that we can buy - and that is ALL. If they protect little inventors too, that's fine but it's a side benefit. If they protect inventors at the expense of innovation (as seems to be too frequent), then they are not serving their purpose, and the laws need to be revised.

Re: Re: Other Pending Patents from Halliburton

waaiiit...
ignoring your interesting use of commas, what exactly are you saying here? Obama is a puppet of "the people of islam", who will take control of the patent office? And they will purge patents/ideas that are not muslim?
>_>

ignoring your interesting use of commas, what exactly are you saying here? Obama is a puppet of "the people of islam", who will take control of the patent office? And they will purge patents/ideas that are not muslim?

Not sure... but he is certainly a puppet of the big bankers, who pretty much run eveything, regardless of who's actually in office.

New puppet, same puppet masters.

"The real truth of the matter is...that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson..."
—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933

More Power To Them

I am preparing to patent the process of breathing air on the premises of Haliburton, so that I can begin billing them for the royalties they owe me for each breath of air their lungs inhale using MY patented system of breathing. My silent partner is God, who is allowing me to share the royalties with Him. What goes around comes around.

??

Not sure how most of these posts are even relevant. The Patent system is overcomplicated and time consuming and the sooner it is harmonized the better it will be for innovation on a global scale. Obama will hopefully bring the US to the table on this. Something George was unwilling to do. Im not American so it is so easy to laugh how easily you guys seem to get distracted from the big picture stuff. Who care if he is muslim, Im judging the man on the policies he has presented to the world. His 'gold plated' patent idea is different but only really applies to big business. Maybe old mate with the BMW and gold digging whores has one lol.

.....continuation

.. also wouldn't hurt if you guys knew something about patent law before commenting. Some of the posts just make me think this website is read by a lot of idiots. All I am saying is that it wouldn't hurt to be a little informed before offering insight into a subject as complicated as patents.
PS- Pretty funny that I was linked to this by a fellow IP Professional =)

Re: Other Pending Patents from Halliburton

>Obama is not the man you want running your country, the first should have been when all our enemies cheered for him......

I just want you to notice that Al-Quaeda was officially supporting McCain, because the Republicans have done so much for them by facilitating recruiting and giving them all the visibility they needed. Economy is at the center of most war, and Al Quaeda would never have been able to destroy it without the dedicated support of the Bush administration and 2 costly wars on terrorism that could never be won and that created lots of tensions between the USA and the rest of the world.

A war that could not be won? Sorry, I forgot that the Taliban does have some winning chance, if the US economy get destroyed and have to give up being the main world leader, just like England had to do in the past. On the other hand, I don't like much the idea of seeing China as the next world leader.

Now with Obama, a settlement with the Taliban (something unavoidable sooner or later) will finally be possible. Together with some other initiatives, the tension between the US and the rest of the world might significantly go down and so will the number of your enemies (which I am not, just in case that would cross your mind).

Wait a second. You just applied for a patent about the process of declaring a war to a nation that have done no direct wrong to the US. And how to do this using the processes of lies, false information, FUD and changing the motive for the war in the middle as it fits at the moment while getting funded by the Oil and the Weapon industry players. Sorry for underestimating you: it was a great and very lucrative idea.

The Filer of this patent does not understand patents

If a process or system is put into place and is being actively used, it is no longer patentable. You must file the patent BEFORE you sell anything.

Now, if a company starts handing out trade secrets to just any old person that comes along - they deserve what they get. If, on the other hand, they hand out the trade secrets to someone that signed a non-disclosure, who then goes and patents that idea - well the lawyers get rich in those cases.

This is just a stupid idea that someone submitted to the patent office. It is not like it will actually RECEIVE a patent (or, even if it did, if that process could actually be used).

Surely this

Might we consider that this entire application was nothing but a satire? Maybe this company has found itself overwhelmed by trolls, and in the course of fighting back one of its lawyers wrote the patent bar's form of "A Modest Proposal." There has been a history of applications filed as a form of protest in the past -- An expensive joke perhaps, but not unprecedented.

/Agree

To be honest I cant wait until industrial applicability is actually applied to patents as a legitimate test of patentability. It is my understanding that it is just a box ticking exercise done by examiners. My favorite patent I have seen granted by the USPTO is a 'method for walking through walls'. I believe it involved the the resonant frequency of water at some point. Passed novelty and inventive step tests... according to the legislation it deserves to be monopolized. Right??